Light Rising
by YinYangWriter
Summary: The battle for the world comes to its climax. Can LYOKO warriors stop XANA and save William? Ninth in the Light and Shadow series.
1. Useful

**This is the ninth installment of my **_**Light and Shadow**_** series. I do not own **_**Code: LYOKO**_**, but Eva Maverick-Morales and Kayla Olson are mine. This takes place after **_**Bad Connection**_**. Part of this story takes place during Episodes 92 and 93. I have seen the episodes, but I don't remember all of them. These first couple chapters take place in the space between Episodes 91 and 92. If you are just coming across these stories right now and wish to read the others, check out my profile page — I have a list of them (since someone sent a message saying they couldn't find what the others were and what order they went in — thank you for bringing that to my attention). Please enjoy and review.**

* * *

><p>Kayla walked to school and thought about what all had happened in the time since she came to Kadic Academy. It was quite a lot. And even before that things were anything but normal. But now things were becoming more intense, more dangerous. Recently Kayla was shown how quickly things can change in an instant. She almost lost her best friend to LYOKO, to Child's Services, and to strange bouts of pain that's origin was more unknown than XANA's next attack. Now something was being revealed to Kayla that she should have seen long already.<p>

She was useless.

Not in the sense of not being at all helpful. She had helped Eva with many of her injuries and some of the others when they got hurt. And she was of some help on LYOKO with her super strength and her ability to switch places with Aelita. But she felt like she could do more. But what could a smart high school medic/dancer do?

Kayla found her friends waiting for her at a tree. It was only Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita. Yumi probably was right behind Kayla, but where was Eva?

"Hey," said Kayla.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" beamed Odd.

"Where's Eva?" asked Kayla, looking around.

"That's a good question," said Jeremy.

"I haven't seen her all morning," said Aelita. "I checked her room before breakfast, but it was empty."

"And none of us saw her in the lunchroom," said Ulrich.

"You don't think she had another one of her headaches, do you?" asked Jeremy.

"She might have," said Kayla. She pulled out her mobile and dialed Eva's number. Kayla hung up and shook her head. "Straight to voice mail."

"If her mobile's turned off, she may be with the principal," said Aelita.

"What could Delmas want with her now?" asked Odd.

The school bell rang and they started off to their first classes. Kayla reached out and touched Ulrich's arm.

"Could you help me out with something, Ulrich?" she asked shyly.

"Sure, Kayla. What is it?"

Kayla bit her lip. "Could you teach me how to fight?" she asked.

Ulrich frowned. "You mean like martial arts?"

Kayla nodded.

"If I may ask — why?"

Kayla sighed. "All of you know some form of self-defense. You and Yumi have Penchat Silat, Odd's got a little boxing, you've taught Aelita a few moves, and Eva's got capoeira. I don't have anything in my background except the tango and ballet. I would like to learn something."

"Sure," said Ulrich. "Meet me at the gym after class. Bring sweat pants."

"I don't own any," said Kayla.

Ulrich gave her a funny look. "Borrow some from Eva."

Kayla stood there with a stunned look before hurrying off to class.

* * *

><p>First and second periods went by and no one saw Eva. They did notice that the teachers weren't marking her absent and no one was concerned that she was missing.<p>

"They probably don't know that she's gone," Odd whispered to Ulrich when he said something about it. "You know how quiet our phantasm can be."

It was at gym class when the first learned something.

"Hey, Jim!" called Odd. "Where's Eva? Is she sick?"

"No," said Jim. "Not sick. She's been in a meeting with Mr. Delmas since early this morning."

"About what?" asked Jeremy.

"That's none of your business," said Jim. He leaned forward. "But to be honest, it's about her future at Kadic." He straightened. "Now let's get to stretching!" he boomed.

"You don't think she's getting expelled, do you?" asked Ulrich as they did jumping jacks.

"Doubt it," said Kayla. "Jim didn't seem too concerned about it. You would think if it was something that serious that he would be more than a little agitated."

"It's Jim," panted Jeremy. "When isn't he agitated about something?"

"I don't think we should worry," said Aelita. "It's probably nothing."

"'Probably nothing'? Since when does 'probably nothing' take all morning?" asked Odd.

* * *

><p>After gym they had lunch. Eva was already in the lunchroom when they got there. She was tucking into a plate of what looked like spaghetti stacked high.<p>

"What do you have?" asked Odd, his eyes wide.

"Spaghetti pie," replied Eva. "Ask Rosa for a piece."

Odd went to Rosa and asked to sample it. The rest of them got their food and sat down with Eva.

"I didn't even see that on the menu," said Jeremy. "How did you get it?"

"Yeah, I practically had to beg Rosa for a small portion," pouted Odd, looking at his tiny piece of spaghetti pie.

"Teachers get different meals," replied Eva. "And this is something new."

"Looks like being a teacher's kid has its perks," said Ulrich. He looked over at Sissi. "I wonder why Sissi never gets the good stuff."

"Sissi's a student," said Eva. "That's why."

"So are you," said Yumi. "What makes you so special?"

Eva put her fork down and wiped her mouth. She looked up at them, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. Kayla couldn't remember Eva's eyes ever sparkling.

"I have an announcement," said Eva. "I just got out of a meeting with Mr. Delmas, Dr. Klotz — Mr. Simone, whatever his name is — and the school superintendent. Remember that aptitude test I took for Mrs. Hertz the other day?"

"Yeah," replied Jeremy.

"It was about that," said Eva.

Kayla's jaw dropped. "You didn't flunk it, did you?" she asked in disbelief.

Eva shook her head. "I passed it."

"What a relief," said Aelita.

"I thought they might kick you out if you flunked," said Ulrich.

"So you're staying with us?" asked Yumi.

"Of course I'm staying with you," said Eva. She smirked. "But I'm not a student anymore."

"What?" asked Kayla.

Eva's smirk broadened. "You're looking at the freshly graduated and new teaching assistant to one Jim Morales."

"Graduated?" asked Aelita.

"How did you manage that?" asked Ulrich.

"I did so well on my test that I was given a test that would decide if I had the knowledge to pass the senior grade," said Eva. "I passed. Technically I won't graduate until this year's seniors do, but I don't have to go to class anymore."

"But when they tried to do that with me, they tried to send me to a special school for the gifted," said Jeremy in shock.

"So I heard," said Eva. "Dr. Klotz doesn't think it's a good idea for me to leave a stable environment given the previous circumstances I lived with. He thinks it's better for me to stay here with my brothers and sisters and new father."

"Aren't you going to be bored with staying in your room all day?" asked Yumi with a smile.

"We're already working on that," said Eva. "Mr. Delmas wants to start a new student tutoring program. Older students will help the younger students with their homework during free periods. I'm the head tutor."

"So how come you get the good food?" whined Odd.

"I'm teaching assistant," said Eva. "I get to eat with the teachers if I want. And get the teachers' food."

"You better share some of that with me!" Odd said, jabbing his fork threateningly in Eva's direction.

Eva chuckled.

Kayla smiled. "I am so happy for you," she said. "But couldn't you have told us something before hand?"

"How could I? I didn't even know," said Eva. She tilted her head questioningly. "What's wrong, Kayla?"

"You scared me when you didn't show up this morning and didn't answer your mobile," replied Kayla. "I thought you have one of your headache fits again."

Eva shook her head. "They're gone now," she said. "I haven't had one since Odd's parents came to visit. I think it was just a once and done deal."

"That's a relief," said Yumi.

"Yes, we don't want them interfering on LYOKO or during a XANA attack," said Jeremy.

"It also explains why you are so much happier," said Aelita.

"You think?" asked Eva.

"Of course," said Jeremy. "I can't remember you smiling so much. Actually, I don't think any of us ever heard you laugh, either."

"Jim is really having an influence on you," said Kayla.

"You, too," said Eva. "You're always cheerful."

Odd narrowed his eyes. "Wait. You can't be Eva. You're a polymorph!"

Eva reached across the table and whacked Odd up alongside the head.

"No, that's definitely Eva," said Ulrich.

They all laughed.

* * *

><p>In the desert sector, a white tower turned red.<p>

* * *

><p>A specter came through an outlet in the teacher's lounge where all the teachers were eating. It attacked each on of them. They growled, their eyes reflecting XANA's mark.<p>

* * *

><p>Back at the lunchroom, the bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period.<p>

"I'll see you guys later," said Eva. "I'm going to the library. I have some reading to catch up on."

"Hey, guys," said Odd. "I'm going to run to my room and check on Kiwi. Tell Ms. Kensington that I'm in the bathroom."

"Okay," said Jeremy.

"I better go, too," said Kayla. "We have a test today and I don't want to have to go in the middle of a question."

"Oh, that's right!" groaned Yumi. "I forgot all about it. Hopefully it's not too hard. Mrs. Hertz is known to throw a few curve balls at us."

"Good luck, you two," said Ulrich.

The others went to their next class.

"Aelita," said Mrs. Meyer, the math teacher. "You are to go see Mr. Delmas right away."

"Now?" asked Aelita.

"Now," said Mrs. Meyer.

Aelita left and class got started.

"Oh, rats," said Jeremy as Mrs. Meyer began the lesson. "I was supposed to tell her that Odd was going to be late."

"He can explain himself," whispered Ulrich.

They began to take down the notes on the board.

"Attention everyone," came Mr. Delmas' voice over the intercom. "We have an intruder on the grounds. All students go to a classroom immediately. We are going into lock down."

"Lock down?" whispered Jeremy. He frowned and discreetly took his laptop out of his backpack. "An activated tower," he said to Ulrich.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ulrich.

Mrs. Meyer looked out the door before closing it and turning off the lights. "Everyone, line up against the wall."

Ulrich took out his mobile and dialed Yumi.

Yumi was sitting against a wall in Mrs. Hertz's class. The lights were already off. She had her mobile tucked up her sleeve. "I'm locked in, too. I can't get to the factory."

"Aelita's with Delmas," said Ulrich. "We think XANA's up to something."

"Eva's in the library," said Yumi. "Maybe she hasn't been locked in."

Ulrich tapped Jeremy. "Call Eva."

Jeremy took out his mobile and called her.

"What about Kayla?" asked Ulrich.

"She's not back from the bathroom," said Yumi. "What about Odd?"

"He never came back either," said Ulrich.

"Do you think XANA got to them?"

"Doubt it," replied Ulrich. "We have to tell them."

"I'll take Kayla," said Yumi.

"And I'll take Odd." Ulrich hung up and quickly sent a text to Odd.

Jeremy was just getting off the phone with Eva. "Eva's on the move. No one saw her go into the library, so they don't know she's there. She's going to find Aelita and go to the factory. Any news with the others?"

"Yumi's stuck in class," said Ulrich. "Kayla never came back from the bathroom. I just sent a text to Odd telling him about XANA."

Jeremy nodded. "Let's hope he gets it."

Odd and Kayla heard the message over the loudspeakers that they were in lock down. They met outside of the bathrooms.

"What's going on?" asked Kayla.

Odd shrugged. His mobile started going off and he checked it. His was not the only one. Kayla's was going off as well. Both had received the same text message.

_S.O.S. XANA_

"Let's get to the factory," said Odd.

They took two steps before seeing the music teacher coming up to them.

"What are you two doing out here?" he asked. "We're in lock down. You were told to get to a classroom."

"Sorry, sir," said Kayla.

Odd and Kayla saw it at the same time. There was a brief moment where XANA's mark was visible in the teacher's eyes. They both turned around and started off for a classroom. They then sprinted around a corner and disappeared. The music teacher looked around, confused. Without finding them, he walked away.

Odd and Kayla were flat against the stair wall of the arches. It was uncomfortable with the steps digging into their sides, but it worked.

Getting up, Odd looked around. "Cool."

Kayla straightened her clothes. "You hang around Eva long enough, something's bound to rub off on you."

Kayla's mobile rang. "Hello?" she answered.

Eva was hiding in the trees, moving silently when her target moved. "Delmas has kidnapped Aelita. He's heading for the factory."

"Delmas, too?" asked Kayla, leaning over so Odd could hear as well. "We just had a close call with the music teacher."

"Looks like XANA's using all the teachers," said Odd.

"Where are the others?" asked Eva.

"Jeremy and Ulrich are in math and Yumi's in science," said Kayla. "The school's in lock down; they can't get out."

"See if you can get them out of class," said Eva. "If XANA's plan to get Aelita fails, it'll go after them. Right now, they're sitting ducks."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Kayla.

"Distract the teachers," said Eva. "Give them time to get out of class."

"Okay," said Kayla. She hung up. "Come on, Odd. I'm going to need an extra set of hands."

They started off for the classrooms.

Eva continued to follow Mr. Delmas until he reached the sewer.

"I know where you're going," she mumbled, taking off through the woods. "I don't need to follow you."

Kayla and Odd ran to the science rooms. There was a lab that was not in use. Kayla opened the door and began to grab things off the shelves.

Odd watched, fascinated. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Kayla put her supplies and beginning to pour and mix into separate beakers and flasks. "Making explosives," she replied.

"Oh, okay," said Odd. His eyes widened. "How do you know how to make explosives?"

"Chemistry is one of the things I'm good at," said Kayla, not looking up from what she was doing. "Get me a pair of goggles and gloves. And a mask. Get some for yourself, too."

Odd got what she needed and helped her put them on. "How much of this stuff do we need?"

"Not much," replied Kayla, returning to her work. "Just enough to make a distraction."

"Is there something I can do to help?" asked Odd.

Kayla thought for a moment. "Get the liquid soap they use to clean the beakers and instruments. It should be in a gallon jug."

Odd went under the sink and pulled out the soap. It was a full gallon jug. "Got it. Now what?"

"Pour some of it at the door," said Kayla. "That way, if anyone comes in, they'll find that we turned this place into a slip 'n' slide."

Odd did what he was told as Kayla mixed the chemicals.

* * *

><p>Eva did not beat Mr. Delmas to the factory. He was just getting onto the elevator when she got there. Panting, Eva headed for the corridor, picking up a piece of pipe as she ran. Mr. Delmas was still in the scanner room. She waited until Mr. Delmas came up to start the virtualization program. Eva climbed down the ladder silently.<p>

"Scanner Aelita," said Mr. Delmas. "Virtualization."

Aelita was virtualized, falling hard on the desert terrain.

Mr. Delmas heard something behind him. He turned in the chair just in time to have a pipe slammed into his face. He fell unconscious.

Eva stood over him, holding the pipe against one shoulder, her other hand on her hip. "Take that, XANA."

Eva sat in the chair and put the headset on. "Aelita?"

Aelita got to her feet and looked up. "Eva? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Thank goodness," said Aelita. "XANA possessed Mr. Delmas and locked down the school. Where are the others?"

"Odd and Kayla are okay from what I know," said Eva. "The rest are trapped in class. Kayla is trying to get them out."

"How?" asked Aelita.

"I really don't know, but knowing Kayla, it's going to work," said Eva. "I haven't seen her fail yet."

Aelita looked around. "I don't see any monsters, but some will come soon. They must know I'm here."

"Give me a minute to get Delmas squared away and I'll join you," said Eva.

Eva yanked off the headset and climbed down to the scanner room. She remembered there being a winch stashed behind the scanners so they could use it to fix the hardware of LYOKO one floor below. The cable was more than strong enough to hold a XANAfied person if tied correctly.

* * *

><p>Kayla and Odd were still working on creating their distraction.<p>

"Let's hope this works," said Kayla, dividing her concoction up into smaller beakers and placing rubber gloves over them to keep them sealed. "I think I have my proportions correct."

"And if you don't?" asked Odd.

"This won't end well," replied Kayla. "None of us have lost any fingers so far, so we should be fine. Now all we have to do is make our distraction." She looked around the room. "I need something that can be used for fuses. And we'll need a shovel."

Odd picked up the liquid soap. "I'll bring this with. You don't know what we might need it for." He looked at the beakers that Kayla was packing into two large basins for transport. "I gotta ask — how stable is that stuff?"

"As long as there isn't any sort of flame or spark, we're fine," said Kayla. She found some string and a bottle labeled C2H5OH.

"What's that?" asked Odd, pointing to the bottle.

"Ethyl alcohol," replied Kayla. She remembered something. "Matches."

Odd grabbed a book of matches off the teacher's counter. He grinned as he held them up.

Kayla smiled satisfactorily. "Wouldn't work if we didn't have an ignition source."

The two of them walked out of the laboratory with their distraction-making items. Jim was waiting by the stairs for them. He grinned evilly at them as he made his way up the stairs. Odd threw the gallon jug of soap at the stairs, coating them liberally in its slipperiness. Jim took one step and went flying back, tumbling down the steps.

"Other stairway," said Odd, leading Kayla.

* * *

><p>Eva left Mr. Delmas in a corner and started up the automated virtualization program. She hurried down to the scanners and stepped in. The doors closed and she was soon falling to the ground of the desert sector.<p>

"Which way to the tower?" asked Eva.

"I can't see it," said Aelita. "But I can feel pulsations."

"Pulsations?" asked Eva.

Just then it felt like there was an earthquake on LYOKO. It was quick and the ground pulsed with light at some places, leaving a trail.

"Yes, this is how I used to find activated towers," said Aelita. "It's just as reliable. Come on."

They began following the pulsations.

"I wonder where the monsters are," said Eva. "This is unusual."

"I don't think XANA had time to send them," said Aelita. "I think it's taking its time. It thinks all of you are stuck in class."

"Well, sooner or later the students are going to get suspicious and want to see if there really is a threat," said Eva. "I'm concerned about what will happen when they go against the teachers."

Aelita nodded. "I'm worried, too."

* * *

><p>Ulrich and Jeremy sat quietly. The other students were getting antsy. They wanted to get up and have class. There was no danger that they could see or hear.<p>

"Let's err on the side of caution, class," said Mrs. Meyer.

Yumi was having the same problem in her class as well. Some were standing up and walking around. Mrs. Hertz would shout at them to sit down. They would reluctantly sit, but some were becoming bold with the notion that this was all a hoax.

Then the three of them got a text message from Odd. They read the same thing.

_On our signal._

"What signal?" whispered Ulrich.

There was a loud bang outside. Several students jumped. Then there was another one much closer to the building.

Mrs. Hertz walked over to the window.

Yumi moved quickly to the door, opened it, and was gone before anyone had a chance to say anything.

"There's our signal," muttered Jeremy.

He and Ulrich were out the door as well as soon as Mrs. Meyer was distracted.

The three of them met up in the woods and were soon joined by Kayla and Odd.

"What was that?" asked Jeremy.

"Oh, you know," said Odd casually. "Just a few explosions to get the teachers' attention. Apparently, XANA doesn't like it when you play dirty like it."

"But what caused the explosions?" asked Yumi.

"It seems Sunshine here knows enough about chemistry to make bombs," replied Odd.

"You made a bomb?" asked Jeremy.

"Several," replied Kayla. "I'm not proud of it, but I couldn't think of anything else. I made sure the blasts were directed up and away from everything."

* * *

><p>They got the factory and saw that Aelita and Eva were already on LYOKO. Mr. Delmas was tied up in the corner with a thick cable.<p>

"Get down there," Jeremy said, putting on the headset and starting up the necessary programs. "Aelita, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Jeremy," replied Aelita. "We're almost at the tower."

Jeremy looked at his screen. "What tower? There's no tower on my screen."

"What? That can't be right," said Aelita. "We've been feeling pulsations and been following them. They keep getting stronger."

"Aelita, I'm telling you, you're nowhere near the activated tower," said Jeremy.

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Yumi called up to him. "Are we going to LYOKO or not?"

"The activated tower is east of where you are," said Jeremy. "Far east. You've been running the wrong way."

"What?" growled Eva. She let out an exasperated sound. "Send me the overboard. We'll be back there before you can virtualize everyone."

"Coming up," said Jeremy, activating the program. "Okay, everyone, get ready to go. Ladies and Odd first."

Odd bowed to Kayla. "After you, Sunshine."

"Thank you," said Kayla, walking passed him and stepping into a scanner.

* * *

><p>Back on LYOKO, Eva had the throttle opened wide on her overboard. Aelita was hanging on tightly to Eva's waist, keeping her head down.<p>

"Must you go so fast?" she asked.

"I want to get there today," replied Eva. "I do not like being deceived. Especially by XANA. Oh, when I get my hands on it and its monsters, I'm going to tear them virtual limb from virtual limb."

Just when Aelita thought Eva couldn't make that board go any faster, she did. Aelita looked over a black skull shoulder pad and pointed. "There!"

Eva saw where Aelita was pointing and stopped the overboard at the rest of the group.

"What kept you?" asked Kayla.

Eva simply looked ahead. The tower was in sight now. There were four megatanks guarding it. "This is going to be tough," she said, nodding in the tower's direction.

Odd snickered. "Anyone up for a game of ball?"

"I am," replied Eva.

"Let's go," said Yumi.

They came from the front. The megatanks lined up in attack formation. They fired. The LYOKO warriors jumped out of the way. Kayla ran up, used her super jump technique, and brought her mace down. The megatank closed up, but that did not stop the blow. With Kayla's great strength, the mace went through the armor and hit the weak point. Kayla jumped out of the way.

Ulrich was busy blocking a blast with both sabers. Odd came around and fired a laser arrow. The megatank exploded.

"Thanks," said Ulrich.

"Any time," said Odd.

Yumi and Eva were taking the third. Yumi drew its attention to her and Eva came around and possessed it. The possessed megatank closed up and rolled onto its side.

"Down!" shouted Yumi.

Everyone dropped as Eva opened up and let out a horizontal attack. The attack wasn't enough to destroy the remaining megatank, but it pushed it over the edge of the sector and it fell into the digital sea. Eva jumped out of the megatank she possessed and it exploded behind her.

"Aelita, go," said Kayla.

Aelita ran into the tower and made her way to the top. The interface screen appeared and she put her hand on it.

Aelita.

Code: LYOKO.

"Tower deactivated," she announced.

Jeremy hit the return key on his keyboard. "Return to the past now."

* * *

><p>It was afternoon and class had just left out. Eva, Yumi, Jeremy, Aelita, and Odd were standing by a tree.<p>

"So how was your first day of being a teaching assistant?" asked Yumi.

"Which first day?" asked Eva.

They chuckled.

"Is this going to be a reoccurring thing?" asked Jeremy.

"Yeah, you making jokes is so out of character," said Odd.

Aelita laughed. "You should have heard her when she found out that XANA trick us."

"I don't know," said Eva. "I'm just going to take it one day at a time."

"We'll be here for you, phantasm," said Odd, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I wonder where Kayla and Ulrich went to," said Jeremy.

* * *

><p>In the gymnasium, Kayla was trying to stay on her feet as Ulrich sparred with her. He caught her in the ribs with his foot.<p>

"Sorry!" he said as Kayla crumpled to the ground.

She groaned. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"You'll get the hang of it," said Ulrich. "We just need to find something you're good at."

Kayla nodded and allowed Ulrich to pull her to her feet.

"Ready for Round Two?" he asked.

Kayla nodded. "Ready."


	2. Heart Secrets

**I do not own **_**Code: LYOKO**_**, but Kayla and Eva are mine. Please enjoy and review.**

* * *

><p>At lunchtime, Kayla caught herself glancing over at the William clone for no reason. There was nothing new to him. He just sat quietly and stared at the food on his plate, not touching any of it.<p>

The others were talking about class, LYOKO, and programming. Kayla had no interest in it.

After school, Kayla stayed to watch Ulrich and Odd play soccer. Eva was off doing her own thing. Who knew what she was up to these days? She had been so secretive! Kayla knew that Eva would tell her in her own time. She just needed to be patient.

Kayla was getting ready to go home. She said good-bye to everyone and that she would see them tomorrow. She started heading for the front gate. As she did, Kayla caught sight of the William clone walking into the dorm building. She stopped and watched him go.

"So, you've got a crush on William Dunbar, huh?"

Kayla turned and saw Sissi standing behind her, hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

"No, I don't," Kayla said.

"Sure you do," said Sissi. "I have the same look when I look at Ulrich. Those big eyes, that little smile. You like William. Why, I don't know. He's been so strange since he came back from that trip with his folks. Always playing dumb. He makes himself look like a moron sometimes and it doesn't even faze him. And he's always so happy. It's not normal."

"I don't have a crush on William," Kayla said.

"Don't try to lie your way out of it," said Sissi. "So you like happy, dumb-acting boys. That's your problem, not mine."

"But William's not —" Kayla almost blew it completely. She wanted to say that the William Dunbar at Kadic was not human. " — my type."

Kayla silently prayed that Sissi didn't notice the slight pause in her sentence.

"Keep telling yourself that," said Sissi. She turned and walked off.

Kayla stood there for a long moment, going over the conversation and how she could possibly like something that wasn't even alive. Granted, the William clone was always cheerful, never got angry, and had saved her life before. It also comforted her when she was terrified during the earthquakes XANA caused.

Kayla turned around and ran to the dorm building. She went to Eva's room and barged in without knocking, quickly closing the door behind her.

"I fell in love with the William clone," Kayla said.

Eva, who had been sitting at her desk doing some work, stared at Kayla. She blinked twice, her mouth slightly agape. "What?"

Kayla repeated, nodding slightly, "I fell in love with the William clone."

Eva sighed heavily and hung her head. "Ah, geez."

"I know," said Kayla. "What am I going to do? He's not even real. How can I like him?"

Eva didn't know what to say. She shook her head, her mouth moving, trying to find the right words to say. "How did this happen?" was all that came out.

"I don't know," said Kayla. She started crying. "What am I going to do? I know that we need it to keep everyone from knowing what happened and I know that we'll get the real William back someday, but what am I going to do when the clone has to go away?"

Eva got up and came over to Kayla. Eva put her arms around Kayla. "Okay, okay. You don't need to cry about this."

There was a knock on the door.

"Eva, are you here?" Milly's voice came from the other side of the door. "We're here for the interview."

"Interview?" asked Kayla. "What interview?"

"Don't worry about that right now," said Eva. "You sit and get yourself together." She guided Kayla into her desk chair. "Help yourself to the food. I'll be back shortly. This shouldn't take any longer than twenty minutes."

"Okay," whispered Kayla, wiping her eyes.

Eva nodded. She went to the door and stepped out. "Milly, Tamiya, change of plans. We're going to need to do the interview somewhere else."

Kayla sat in the room alone for a moment. She looked at the desk and saw that someone had given Eva a box of chocolates.

"She did say to help myself," said Kayla, taking one of the chocolates out of the box.

As she ate, Kayla looked at what Eva was working on. It looked like a script. She read a few lines, looking at the names of the parts.

"_A Midsummer Night's Dream_," she read. "That must be the school play." She went on to look at the notes. Some were in Eva's handwriting and there was a different handwriting on some of the notes. Either she was collaborating with someone on this or just making it look like she was.

Another thought occurred to Kayla as she was looking at these notes. She wondered if Eva was still writing that equation. Kayla started going through papers, looking for anything that would tell her if Eva was writing those numbers again. Other than that first day she was being cryptic and her headaches came and went, there wasn't anything that said Eva was writing that equation. Perhaps she remembered where she saw it and put the matter to bed.

But there was one note that was raising a few red flags with Kayla. It was not in Eva's handwriting and Kayla seriously doubted that Eva would write something like this to herself.

"My puzzling poet, I wish to thank you from the depths of my soul for agreeing to assist with this year's school play. Though on my own I may achieve greatness in theater, with you I can soar to new heights. Signed Your Obscure Artist."

Kayla's eyes widened. Did Eva have a boyfriend? If so, why didn't she tell her about him? Kayla thought they shared everything. Well, almost everything considering what Eva went through. But Kayla still tried to be honest about everything with Eva. Why couldn't Eva do the same?

Kayla looked over at Eva's computer. There was sure to be e-mails leading to the identity of whoever wrote this letter. Unfortunately, Eva was not very predictable. While Kayla may have had her e-mail address, she did not know the password. If she asked, she was sure Jeremy could crack it. Kayla shook her head. She would just have to settle for anything hard copy. Perhaps Eva was composing a reply on paper for him. It wasn't long before she found what she was looking for.

**Forgive me, for I not know what to say  
>I must admit I did not foresee it to be this way<br>I thought forever that I would be alone  
>Not living a full life, only the bare bones<br>Now I have friends who comfort me  
>But still a part is missing within me<br>My heart is dark, a fragment gone, a piece that I lost long ago  
>Thanks to you it is returning and once more what it feels like I will know<br>The pain has lessened, the throb gone away  
>I never thought I would see this day<br>But it is almost in sight, just a little longer  
>I must be patient, be a little stronger<br>Though my nerves may be frazzled when the time comes  
>I will stand tall and watch what we together have done<strong>

Kayla was now officially intrigued. She looked at the clock. Eva would be back soon. Kayla quickly copied the poem on a separate piece of paper and tucked it and the love letter into her skirt pocket.

Eva opened the door and looked at Kayla. She was pleased that her friend had stopped crying.

"I should go," said Kayla, getting to her feet.

"You sure?" asked Eva.

"I need to get home," said Kayla, collecting her things.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" asked Eva.

Kayla shook her head. "No, thanks. I'll be okay."

Eva nodded.

Kayla left and took out her mobile. "Hey, Yumi? It's Kayla. You're not going to believe what I found."

* * *

><p>It was early in the morning when Jeremy heard his computer beeping. It was the super scanner. He got out of bed and checked it. There was an activated tower in the forest sector. It had only just activated, so XANA might not have launched his attack yet.<p>

Jeremy called Kayla and Yumi, telling them that there was an activated tower. He pulled on some clothes and hurried to wake Odd and Ulrich before running downstairs to get Aelita and Eva.

"This early in the morning?" yawned Odd. "What is XANA thinking?"

"It thinks we are still sleeping," said Ulrich.

"Do Yumi and Kayla know?" asked Aelita.

"I called them before I got you guys," said Jeremy. "They are going to meet us there."

They reached the factory. Kayla and Yumi were already waiting for them in the scanner room.

"Let's do this," said Odd, putting his fists up and doing a little shadow-boxing.

"You're heading to the forest sector," said Jeremy. "Kayla, Yumi, and Aelita, you're up."

Kayla, Yumi, and Aelita stepped into the scanners and were virtualized. Seconds later, Ulrich, Odd, and Eva appeared. They looked around.

"The tower is to the south," said Jeremy. "I got you as close as I could."

"Over there!" said Ulrich, pointing.

"And we have company," said Eva darkly, her white eyes narrowing at their adversaries.

"William?" asked Aelita.

Eva nodded, her blue forelocks falling over her white and black face.

Ulrich took a look. "And the seafood combo platter," he added, seeing two crabs and something else none of them liked. "The Scyphozoa is with them."

William looked at them and summoned his sword, shouldering it, preparing for them to come to him.

"What's the plan?" asked Yumi.

"The same as always," said Odd. "Kick William's butt, destroy the monsters, and deactivated the tower."

"I want William," Kayla said.

All eyes went to her.

"You want to take William?" asked Yumi.

Ulrich chuckled. "Sure. You get to test out your new moves on something with a brain."

"I'll stay with Aelita," said Eva. She turned to Aelita. "I won't let the Scyphozoa near you."

"And the rest of us will take the monsters," said Odd, smiling. He cocked his laser arrows. "What a fun morning workout this will be."

There was a large gap in the landmass between where the LYOKO warriors were and the tower. Kayla started first, running toward the gap. She unhooked her mace from her skirt belt and summoned the energy head. Kayla leaped high into the air, easily clearing the gap. The monsters shot at her, but Kayla absorbed the attacks with energy head of the mace. She landed on the other side with a battle cry and turned her mace into her morning star. With careful aim, she flung it at William. William's blade deflected it and sent it flying back to her.

"Kayla, what are you doing?" asked Jeremy. On this screen flash the battle cards Kayla vs. William. "You're going up against William on your own?"

"I'll be fine, Jeremy," said Kayla. "Trust me."

The others had to go around. Ulrich and Yumi were one team and Aelita, Odd, and Eva the other.

Ulrich and Yumi attacked a crab. Ulrich used his triangulate ability, confusing the crab. Yumi came up behind, jumped onto the crab's back, and sunk her fan blade into its weak point.

"Nice one," said Ulrich, Yumi landing beside him.

"Thanks. Oh!" Yumi was shot in the shoulder by another crab.

"Yumi, you just lost forty life points," said Jeremy. "Don't take another hit."

"I'll try not to," said Yumi.

Eva was blocking for Aelita while Odd climbed a tree to take a shot at the attacking crab. Eva's ghost shield was holding nicely, its energy protecting Eva's head and torso. Aelita stood behind her, lobbing energy fields over Eva's head. Odd took his shot. He jumped from the tree, executing a back flip, and firing three laser arrows right at the crab, all three landing in the weak point vicinity. The crab exploded.

"How do you like that?" Odd asked the girls.

Eva grunted as she moved out of the way in time as a shot came over her shoulder. She turned to face the crab.

"Wanna play with a phantasm?" she asked. Her eyes narrowed and her black lips twisted into a sneer. She charged forward, weaving out of the path of laser shots. Eva jumped, her form turning white and shooting into the crab. The crab's mark turned dark blue and turned away from Odd and Aelita.

"Yes!" said Jeremy. "Eva has control of a crab. Don't fire on the crab with the blue mark."

"Got it," said Ulrich.

Ulrich took a leg of a crab off and Yumi threw her fan, cutting through the weak point.

William and Kayla were still going at it. They crossed their weapons, each trying to overpower the other. They broke away and swung as hard as they could. William's massive sword met Kayla's mace and there was an explosion. Both weapons were destroyed and both warriors went flying back.

"Kayla, get up!" shouted Jeremy.

Kayla looked up, dazed, and saw William become smoke and shoot toward her. She tumbled out of the way, getting to her feet as William reformed. He came up behind her and pinned her arms to her sides.

William chuckled darkly. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't play such a dangerous game," he said.

"Not unless this pretty girl can play rough," said Kayla. Kayla's leg, flexible from years of dance practice, came straight up and back, her foot slamming into William's face. He let go of her, but instead of Kayla running away, she turned around and slammed the sides of her hands into his collarbone, ribs, stomach, and throat. William staggered back and Kayla brought her leg up and caught him in the side of the head with her foot.

"Whoa!" said Odd, seeing Kayla attacking William. "Sunshine's kicking William's butt!"

"Odd, focus!" said Jeremy.

Eva dashed in front of Odd to give him cover fire. She looked down at him and Odd looked up. He couldn't tell if she was trying to glare at him, because monster features were unchanging, but she probably was.

Eva turned to the Scyphozoa, who was staying back out of the line of fire. She started shooting at it. If she could get rid of the Scyphozoa, Aelita would be able to get to the tower. Eva was suddenly shot in the weak point. The crab exploded and she went tumbling to the ground. She was about to get up when she saw herself disappearing.

"No," she whispered hoarsely, disappearing completely.

"Guys, Eva's down," said Jeremy.

"That couldn't have been good," said Odd. "She was in a crab when she got hit."

Yumi let out a cry and she devirtualized. The scanner opened and Yumi climbed out. In another scanner, Eva was sitting, her head against the wall.

"Eva," said Yumi, hurrying over to her and pulling her out of the scanner. "Eva, wake up."

Eva opened her eyes. "That really hurt," she muttered.

"You're okay," said Yumi, pulling her to her feet. "Come on."

The two of them walked to the elevator.

"Jeremy," grunted Kayla as she continued her assault on William, "please tell me I'm doing something to him."

Jeremy checked his screen. "William is taking damage. How hard are you hitting him?"

Kayla pirouetted and kicked William in the side. "Hard!"

"Just keep at it," said Jeremy. "Ulrich, help Kayla. William's wearing her down faster than she can wear him down."

"Got it," said Ulrich.

There was a high-pitched scream.

"Aelita!" yelled Jeremy.

Aelita was in the clutches of Scyphozoa.

"Guys, you have to help her," said Jeremy.

Kayla looked over at Aelita and the Scyphozoa. Kayla's body glowed with a gold light and Aelita's pink. They both disappeared, the glow changing color as Aelita reappeared near William and Kayla reappeared in the Scyphozoa's tentacles. The Scyphozoa let out a cry as the gold light turned into a blast and it was forced to drop Kayla.

Aelita shook herself, trying to regain her senses. She turned around and saw William. Just as she was about to let out a scream, William cried out in pain and disappeared. Ulrich stood behind where William was, sword in one hand.

"You okay, princess?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.

Aelita accepted the hand. "I'm fine now."

Odd shot the Scyphozoa, forcing it into retreat.

"The coast is clear, Aelita," said Jeremy.

Aelita ran forward and entered the tower. She went to the top, and put her hand on the interface screen.

Aelita.

Code: LYOKO.

"Tower deactivated."

The remaining LYOKO warriors were materialized.

"Where did you learn moves like that?" Odd asked Kayla. "You were really giving William a taste of his own medicine."

Kayla smiled and turned to Ulrich. Ulrich was smiling.

"I taught her," said Ulrich.

"Wha? You did?" asked Odd. "Maybe you should teach me some of those moves."

Kayla giggled. "You're more suited to something Eva uses. Ask her to teach you something."

"Hey, guys," said Jeremy. "I don't mean to interrupt, but if we don't get back to school in twenty minutes, we're going to be late for class."

"Ah!" wailed Odd. "We missed breakfast!"

The rest of them groaned. None of them had eaten that morning.

* * *

><p>In math class, Yumi whispered to Kayla, "Have you any idea who Eva's secret boyfriend is?"<p>

"No," whispered Kayla. "I haven't a clue. I don't even know Eva's type."

"Obviously it has something to do with theater," said Yumi.

"I thought about the school play," said Kayla. "I saw a copy of the script on her desk."

"Someone working on it?" asked Yumi. "That narrows it down. We should find out who is part of the school play. They haven't even started casting for the play yet, much less announced which one they're doing."

"It's _A Midsummer Night's Dream_," said Kayla.

"Shakespear?" asked Yumi. "There's only one person I can think of that would be a part of that for sure. But I doubt that Eva would like him."

"Who?" asked Kayla.

"Miss Ishiyama, Miss Olson, would you be so kind as to join us?" asked their math teacher.

Both girls whipped around and started taking notes.

"Who?" Kayla whispered again.

To this, Yumi replied, "Nicolas Poliakoff."

* * *

><p><strong>Things keep getting more interesting, don't they? Review!<strong>


	3. Facing Reality

**This is where the episode **_**Cold Sweat**_** comes into play. I haven't watched that episode in a while, but I remember the gist of it. Don't expect it to be anywhere spot on like my **_**Light and Shadow**_** version of **_**Bad Connection**_**. Actually, the episode is only a jumping off point to what really goes on. This chapter mostly focuses on Kayla, but Eva has a part as well.**

* * *

><p>Kayla walked to school as she normally did. She was a bit later than normal, but it really didn't matter to her. She had brought Eva a cup of coffee from home. She got to school and found Yumi fuming.<p>

"Good morning, Yumi," said Kayla, grinning.

"Yeah, good for you," snapped Yumi.

Kayla flinched.

Yumi looked at Kayla's hurt expression. "Sorry, Kayla. Someone put gave Milly and Tamiya a picture of me in an embarrassing situation."

"Who?" asked Kayla.

"I don't know, but I'll kill them," said Yumi.

"It can't be that bad," said Kayla.

"Really? People are making fun of me," said Yumi. "I got to get to class!" She stormed off.

Kayla watched her go. "It must be bad if she's that angry."

Kayla found Eva sitting on a bench looking at the school newspaper.

"Hi!" she chirped.

Eva looked up. "Oh, you brought me coffee. Thank you."

Kayla gave Eva the cup and sat down beside her. "Have you seen Yumi this morning? She is really upset."

"I can see why," said Eva, looking at the newspaper.

Kayla looked over her shoulder. Standing in her living room dressed in a blond wig and pink dress with a wand in her hand was Yumi. Kayla gave a gasp.

Eva nodded.

"No wonder she's angry," said Kayla. "Who gave this to Milly and Tamiya?"

"I don't know," said Eva. "Yumi tried getting the information out of them, but they're not talking."

"I better get to class," said Kayla. "Whoever did this is in a load of trouble."

Eva nodded, getting up and taking her coffee with her to the gymnasium.

After class, the LYOKO warriors gathered together in Jeremy's room. He had discovered a replica and they were going to destroy tonight.

"Guys, I can't go," said Eva.

They turned to her.

"Why not?" asked Ulrich.

"I have a doctor's appointment," replied Eva. "Jim's taking me for tests and blood work."

"For what?" asked Kayla. "You're healthy."

Eva shrugged. "I guess it's just to see if there's anything wrong with me. I don't exactly take care of myself."

"That's true," said Kayla.

"Can you keep an eye on LYOKO while we're gone by yourself?" Aelita asked Kayla.

"I should be fine," said Kayla.

"After whipping William like you did, I would say you're going to be fine," said Odd.

"Okay," said Eva. "I'm sorry for bailing out like this, but I can't think of an excuse to give Jim."

"Go to the doctor's," said Jeremy. "I'll call you if there's trouble."

Eva nodded.

* * *

><p>The LYOKO warriors minus Eva went to the factory. Jeremy virtualized the away team first and got them on their way before virtualizing Kayla.<p>

"Here's your glider," said Jeremy.

Kayla's glider appeared next to her and she hopped on and started patrolling the ice sector.

"I'll check the scans for monsters, but all you have to do is keep an eye on things, Kayla," said Jeremy.

"No problem," said Kayla.

In other words, while the others were having an adventure, Kayla was taking a leisure glide around LYOKO.

Nothing was going on in the ice sector so Kayla made her way to a way tower, pulling her wings in and shooting through on thruster power to the next sector, the desert. Everything there, too, was quiet.

"Jeremy," Kayla called.

"Yes, Kayla?"

"How are the others doing?" asked Kayla.

"They are in Siberia," said Jeremy. "I energized Odd and Yumi. They are looking for the generators to shut down."

"I see," said Kayla. "I just thought I would check in."

She heard Jeremy chuckle. "You're bored, right?"

"Yeah," admitted Kayla. "Do you have any clue who gave Milly and Tamiya that picture of her?"

"I know exactly who gave it to them," said Jeremy. "It was Odd."

"What?" asked Kayla.

"Don't tell Yumi," said Jeremy. "I heard Odd trying to con Ulrich into saying it was him. Ulrich's not going for it."

"Oh, man," laughed Kayla. "Odd must be so worried that Yumi's going to find out it's him."

"Well, I would like to see how he gets himself out of this one," said Jeremy. "Hold on, something's up."

Kayla was disconnected from Jeremy. She did not like the way he said "something's up" but she could do nothing. She moved from the desert sector to the forest sector.

Kayla finished patrolling the forest sector and was about to move onto the mountain sector when Jeremy's voice cut in.

"Kayla, do you read me?"

"Yes," replied Kayla.

"They're on their way home," said Jeremy. "Do you want to come in right now?"

"Sure," said Kayla.

Kayla landed the over-glider and stepped off.

"Materialization Kayla."

Kayla appeared in the scanner. She hurried up to the supercomputer lab. Kayla gasped when she saw Ulrich and Aelita already there.

"How did it go?" asked Kayla. "Is everyone okay?"

"Uh, good and bad," said Jeremy.

"Everyone's fine," said Aelita.

"We'll explain it to you when the others get back," said Ulrich.

In the meantime, Kayla called Eva. She was back from the doctor's office and was on her way to the factory. Kayla told Eva that there was no rush and that the others were coming back from their mission.

Soon, all seven of them stood in the supercomputer lab. They hadn't been able to destroy the replica, but ran into William in the real world and a new monster on the replica.

"You didn't see it, Jeremy," said Ulrich. "This thing was huge."

"I know what to call it," said Odd. "Kolossus!"

"Whatever it's called, XANA has a new weapon," said Eva. "How in the world are you going to contend with that?"

"I don't know," said Jeremy. "I'll find a way."

"What's the good news?" asked Kayla.

"XANA sent William to fight Yumi and Odd. It was a big mistake," said Jeremy, grinning. "Aelita downloaded and sent me all of William's data. I think I found a way to bring William back."

"That's great!" said Yumi.

"No more clone!" said Odd.

"And no more mopping the floor with us," said Ulrich.

"And no more covering for him," said Jeremy. "I'll get started on a way as soon as we get back to school. We need to get William back fast."

Eva turned to Kayla. She was forcing a smile.

* * *

><p>They left the factory. Ulrich took Yumi aside, saying he would catch up with them later.<p>

When they got to the woods, Odd called Yumi. Kayla and Eva briefly heard what he was saying. He was admitting to Yumi that it was him who gave Milly and Tamiya the photo.

"Smart," said Eva.

"Yeah, he won't have to worry about Yumi pounding him until tomorrow," agreed Kayla.

Eva looked at Kayla. "Any reason why you followed us back? You could have walked home from the factory."

"I know," said Kayla. "It's just that I . . ."

Eva put her hand up. "You don't have to say anything. Your parents are at home, right? Call them and tell them where you'll be staying with me tonight. You can have the bed."

"Thank you," said Kayla.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Milly and Tamiya were shouting about their exclusive scoop, waving their newspapers in the air. Aelita and Jeremy sat on a bench, a copy of the newspaper between them with Yumi leaning over behind them. Eva and Kayla had their own copy shared between them.<p>

"You photo shopped, right?" asked Jeremy, staring wide-eyed at the picture.

"No way!" said Yumi. "I took that when they were getting out of the shower."

Odd was running as fast as he could with Ulrich on his heels.

"You told me to tell her!" shouted Odd.

"I'll kill you!" yelled Ulrich.

* * *

><p>That evening, Kayla was sitting on her bed, Bon Ami at her feet. The gold dog lifted his head and barked once at the window. Kayla got up and opened it.<p>

"Hey," she said.

Eva crawled in through the window. "Hey." She patted Bon Ami on his head. "How you holding up?"

"Terribly," said Kayla, tears coming to her blue eyes. She grabbed the box of tissues from her bedside table and sat on her bed. "I don't know what's worse — falling in love with something that isn't alive, or doing so and being completely blind to it!"

Bon Ami jumped up on the bed.

Eva sat at Kayla's side. "I don't know what to tell you. I know nothing about anything like that. Except in books."

Kayla glared. "Liar! You have a boyfriend."

Eva's eyes widened. "What? Who told you?"

"No one," said Kayla. "I found that little love letter in your room the night you had that interview with Milly and Tamiya."

Eva was not overly upset by this. It was her own stupidity that allowed that tidbit of information to be found out.

"I have to ask: what do you see in Nicolas Poliakoff?" Kayla asked.

Eva's jaw dropped as she stared in disbelief.

"So it is Nicolas," said Kayla.

Eva hung her head. "Yeah," she said. "How did you figure it out? We were always so careful. No one was to know."

"I didn't," said Kayla. "Yumi did."

"Yumi?" asked Eva. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just us," replied Kayla. "We're not going to say anything — don't worry. But why keep it a secret?"

"Nicolas doesn't want to be catching grief from Sissi," said Eva. "And I don't want to be catching grief from the others about it being Nicolas. Consorting with the enemy."

"Still, I can't see it," said Kayla. "He's not the brightest lightbulb in the lamp store."

"True, but he's more than a twenty watt," said Eva. "He's got more smarts than you think. He just uses them in different ways."

Kayla bit her lip. "Well, looks are deceiving. I mean, look at you. Who would have thought a girl like you would be the smartest student at Kadic."

Her lower lip began to tremble again. She broke into sobs. "I don't care if he's not real! He's real enough to me!"

Eva put her arm around Kayla's shoulder and handed her a tissue. "Look, you need to pull yourself together. This is a disgrace. I get that you like him."

Kayla gave Eva a glare.

"Okay, I don't get that you like him," Eva amended. "Kayla, he doesn't understand. He doesn't know love. How do you expect him to love you back?"

Kayla blew her nose. "I don't know," she said, throwing the used tissue in the wastebasket. "I guess I justified it because he's so simple to lead on. He doesn't question it."

"Sunshine," Eva said, finding it hard to believe that she was using Odd's pet name for Kayla, "it's not going to work. The clone is just a place holder. The real William has to come back. He's part of our world. The clone's not."

"I hope Jeremy gives me a chance to say good-bye to him," said Kayla. "It," she corrected.

"It," said Eva.

They should call it "it". It wasn't really after all. It was just a specter under Jeremy's control who was just holding a place for their real comrade to return.

"It won't remember you," said Eva. "It won't know it existed. It's just a program."

"XANA's just a program," argued Kayla.

Eva pressed her lips together and nodded. "If circumstances allow, I'll try to give you the chance to say good-bye. I can't promise you anything."

"Thank you," said Kayla.

There was a long moment of silence.

Kayla looked over at Eva. "I noticed you're bothered by something. Did something happen at the doctor's office?"

Eva did not answer immediately. "In a way. He was looking over my medical records. Apparently I have some abnormal genetic mutation."

"What?" asked Kayla.

"It's nothing serious," said Eva. "I'm not sick or anything like that, but I should take better care of myself."

"What's this mutation?" asked Kayla.

"It just makes it hard for me to find an organ match for me if I should ever need one," said Eva. "It's rare. It's why they couldn't find a match for Mackenzie in time."

"Eva, that's not your fault," said Kayla. "You know what happened that day."

"And I still think that if I hadn't gotten sick, she would still be here," said Eva. "Everything would have happened sooner, there wouldn't have been the wait, she wouldn't have gotten fussy, and she would still be here." She reached under her shirt and pulled out her locket, running her fingers absently over it.

"If you wouldn't have gotten sick, do you think you would have met me?" asked Kayla. "Or Jeremy, or Ulrich, or any of us? Do you think you still would have become a LYOKO warrior? Do you think that you would have been adopted by Jim? Do you think you would still be on the streets, taking beatings from your parents? Eva, there are so many possibilities. But this is where you are. This is where fate has put you. You are here for a reason. You look at your life as a curse. Have you tried looking at it like a blessing?"

Eva jumped up from the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said quickly, climbing out the window.

"Eva, wait!" Kayla called after her.

But Eva was already jumping down from the roof and running back to school.

"Eva," breathed Kayla, watching the darkness swallow her up. "What is it, Eva? What do you need to make you stop hurting so much?"

* * *

><p><strong>Bit of a crummy chapter, I know, but I needed to show that Eva's problems aren't over yet. Kayla has her own problems, too. Keep reading to find out if and how her problems are solved. Also I would like your reviews.<strong>


	4. Charades

**This chapter goes with the episode **_**Down to Earth**_**. I haven't seen that episode for a while and am doing this from memory. Like the previous chapter, it is not going to be like my **_**Bad Connection**_** piece. It centers on Eva and Kayla and, in this case, the William clone. Please review at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Eva woke with a bad feeling the pit of her stomach. Not the kind of feeling that told her she was going to be sick, but the feeling that something bad was about to happen. It was Sunday, so no classes. Even though Eva was a teaching assistant and tutor, she did not have any students to work with today.<p>

Jeremy woke to a knock on his door. "Yeah?" he called.

Eva came in and found him still in bed. "Hey."

Jeremy turned over and squinted. "Eva?"

"Yeah," she said.

"It's early, isn't it?" Jeremy asked. "What's wrong?"

"Did the super scan go off?" asked Eva.

Jeremy grabbed his glasses. "No, I didn't hear it go off. Let me check."

He walked over to his computer and started it up. "What are you doing up so early?" he asked Eva as his computer was warming up. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Something's wrong," said Eva. "I don't know what."

Jeremy checked the scan. "Nothing. XANA hasn't activated any towers."

Eva narrowed her eyes in thought.

"If there's something going on, let's get the others," said Jeremy. "You have that uncanny ability to know when something's about to happen."

Eva and Jeremy walked out in their pajamas and down to Ulrich and Odd's room. Kiwi hopped down from Odd's bed when he saw them. Jeremy woke Odd and Eva woke Ulrich.

"What's going on?" mumbled Ulrich.

"Jeremy," whined Odd.

"Come on, get up," said Jeremy.

"Is XANA attacking?" asked Ulrich.

"No," replied Eva. "But it could be worse."

"What could be worse than XANA?" asked Odd, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"I don't know," said Eva. "But I sense a disturbance."

"In the Force?" Odd finished. He snickered.

The others looked at him, disappointed that he couldn't come up with anything better.

"He is right," said Eva. "I don't know what it is, but we are going to have a rough day to say the least."

"I'll call Yumi," said Ulrich.

"I'll call Sunshine," said Odd.

"I'll get Aelita," said Eva. "All hands on deck."

They got up, got dressed, and went to breakfast. It was when they got there that there was trouble. There was a car parked in the school parking lot in the visitors section. Two people got out. One was a tall man with dark hair in a brown great coat and the other was a woman with black hair dressed fashionably, a cylindrical purse slung over one shoulder. Jim walked out and led them in the direction of the main office.

"I wonder who they are," said Aelita.

Eva watched them carefully. "They're William's parents," she said.

"What?" asked Ulrich.

"The Dunbars?" asked Jeremy. "Oh, no! The clone may fool everyone at school, but there's no way it can fool William's parents."

"We have to get the real William back," said Eva.

All eyes went to Jeremy.

"I think I know a way," he said. "But someone's going to have to stall until we can get him back."

"Leave that to me and Kayla," said Eva. "You go get William back."

They jumped up from their places and hurried off.

Eva called Kayla. "It's happening now," said Eva when Kayla answered. "William's parents are here. The others are going to the factory. Jeremy thinks he knows how to get William back. We have to stall to keep the clone from blowing everything."

"I'm almost at school," said Kayla. "What can we do?"

"I don't know," said Eva. "I'm going to the main office right now. Maybe I can find something out. Just hurry up and get here."

Eva ran out to the parking lot and found Ms. Weber's car. She took out her picks and picked open the driver's side door as easily as if she had the key. Eva didn't want to be doing this, but she needed a legitimate excuse to get Ms. Weber out of the office for at least two minutes. She turned the headlights on and locked the car up again. Then she went into the main office. Ms. Weber was sitting at her desk doing paperwork and the William clone was standing at Mr. Delmas' door, waiting to be called in.

"Hey, Ms. Weber," said Eva.

"Well, hello, Miss Maverick-Morales," said Ms. Weber, looking up from her paperwork. "What brings you here?"

"I was just looking out at the parking lot," said Eva. "I think you left your lights on."

"Oh, did I?" asked Ms. Weber. She looked at her work. "I have to get this done."

"I'll do it," volunteered Eva. "It'll only take you a few minutes to run out to your car. It's just filing, right?"

"Thank you, Eva," said Ms. Weber. She grabbed her purse and hurried out.

"Take your time!" Eva called after her.

Eva jumped behind Ms. Weber's desk and began filing. She listened closely to what was being said on the other side of the door. Mr. Delmas called William in, but the clone didn't enter. He just stood there like a bump on a pickle. Eva silently pleaded for him to act more human, but silent pleas were doing nothing. Finally someone opened the door and the clone went in.

Ms. Weber came back. "Thank you, Eva," she said.

Eva got out of the way and left the main office.

Kayla met up with her. "What's going on?" she asked.

"The clone isn't going to be able to hold up against the Dunbars' scrutiny," Eva said, running her fingers through her hair, forcing her forelocks back, revealing several old scars. "We need an artifice to explain why their 'son' is acting this way."

"Jeremy has his plan in effect for the principal," said Kayla.

"No doubt the Dunbars have already blown holes through that story," said Eva.

She thought for a long moment. Eva turned to Kayla. Kayla could see the scheming in her dark eyes. Eva had a plan.

"What?" asked Kayla.

"What makes guys act crazy?" asked Eva.

Kayla understood. "I can do that," she said. "Check in with Jeremy. Let me handle the rest."

Eva nodded. She watched Kayla walk away. Eva knew that she was going to pay dearly for this in the end. She only hoped that Kayla would forgive her.

Eva pulled out her mobile and dialed.

"Yes, Eva?" answered Jeremy.

Eva began giving Jeremy the details of the past few minutes.

* * *

><p>Kayla waited for the right moment to put Eva's plan into action. Hopefully this would not backfire on her. The clone had drifted away from William's parents. Only a few steps, but plenty of room for her.<p>

"Hey, William," Kayla chirped, hurrying up to the clone and taking its arm. "How are you?"

"Same as always," said William.

Kayla figured as long as she stuck to generic questions and limited her figures of speech everything would be fine.

"Who is this, William?" asked Mrs. Dunbar.

"This is Kayla," William said.

There was an awkward pause of silence.

Then Kayla said those change everything words: "I'm his girlfriend."

As if it knew what was going on, the clone put its arm around Kayla's shoulders and smiled.

"Girlfriend?" asked Mr. Dunbar. "Why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend?"

"You didn't ask," replied the William clone simply.

Kayla bit her tongue. Maybe this was not going to go as smoothly as she first thought.

"Ah, Kayla," said Jim, coming up to them. "Have you seen Eva? I need to talk to her."

"No, Jim," replied Kayla.

Jim looked at Kayla and the clone's position. He smiled. "Since when have you two been going out?" he asked.

"Not long," replied Kayla.

Jim looked at the Dunbars. "Kayla's one of the brightest students at Kadic. Maybe William here can pick up some of her good habits."

This seemed to put the Dunbars' minds at ease.

* * *

><p>At lunch, Kayla did not sit with the clone or the Dunbars. She went to the LYOKO warriors' usual table. Eva was already there.<p>

"How is it going?" asked Eva when Kayla sat down. "Ow!"

Kayla kicked Eva hard in the shin. She was glaring at Eva. Eva got the message. Both girls quietly ate their lunch, occasionally glancing over at the William clone. Both girls also had their mobiles on their laps, waiting for a message or a call from Jeremy. Nothing.

Kayla finished, got up, and went back over to the clone and the Dunbars.

Eva called Jeremy.

"Can't talk right now, Eva," said Jeremy.

Eva could hear the keys of his keyboard clicking furiously. "Can you listen? Look, you need to hurry up and get William back here. I don't know how long we can keep up the charade."

"Doing what we can," said Jeremy.

He hung up on her. Eva looked at her mobile with an indignant look before putting it back in her pocket.

Eva caught up with Kayla and pulled her aside. "I'm going to go to the factory," she whispered. "Can you keep an eye on things here?"

"Of course," Kayla said bitterly.

Eva nodded. She turned and started off toward the woods, but not before catching a glance at Sissi, who was watching them intently.

Eva was not the only one who saw Sissi. Kayla happened to notice the principal's daughter as well.

"Things just keep getting better," said Kayla.

Kayla walked away. She was not as sneaky as Eva — and who was? The girl could disappear like a phantasm and reappear when you least expected it. But Kayla had learned a few tricks from her friend. Perhaps she could put them to good use. She started off for the main office.

"Hello, Ms. Weber," Kayla said to the secretary.

Ms. Weber looked at her over the boxes she was carrying. "Hello, Kayla. Mr. Delmas is busy at the moment. You'll have to come back later."

"That's fine," said Kayla. "Would you like some help?"

"Please," said Ms. Weber.

Kayla took one of the boxes and carried it into the office. She did not like the look of things there. The Dunbars were in Mr. Delmas' office. So was Sissi from what Kayla could hear. They were talking about the LYOKO warriors.

"Maybe we should speak to this Jeremy Belpois," said Mr. Dunbar.

"No," breathed Kayla, her blue eyes going wide.

"What's that?" asked Ms. Weber.

"Do you need me for anything else?" asked Kayla.

"No," replied Ms. Weber.

Kayla put her box down and shot out the door, grabbing her mobile out of her pocket as she ran.

* * *

><p>Eva was standing beside Jeremy. Ulrich and Yumi were in the scanner room. Jeremy was in a state of panic. Ulrich had just been devirtualized moments ago without taking out William. The Kolossus was attacking and this was probably their only shot at getting William back. Failure was not an option. The program was ready. All that needed to be done was devirtualize William and he would appear free of XANA's control in the scanner.<p>

The icon on the screen showed there was a scanner being filled. With William.

Eva hurried to the ladder and crawled down. William was sitting on the floor between Ulrich and Yumi. Seeing him like that made Eva wish that it was her at school and not Kayla.

"Is he okay?" asked Eva.

Ulrich looked up. "Yeah, but I don't think he has any memory of what happened."

"Aelita, no!" shouted Jeremy.

Odd came out of the scanner at that moment. "Aelita's in trouble!" he cried.

"Jeremy!" shouted Eva. "Send me!"

Jeremy was already halfway down the ladder. The scanner doors shut and opened again and Aelita leaned against the sides.

"You're okay!" cried Jeremy.

"Lucky for me I was devirtualized before the Skid fell into the digital sea," said Aelita.

"The Skid's gone?" asked Eva.

"But we have William back," said Yumi.

Eva's mobile rang. "Yeah?" she answered.

"Where are you?" asked Kayla. "The Dunbars and Mr. Delmas are looking for Jeremy. They know something's up! Please tell me good news."

"We're on our way back right now," said Eva, motioning to the others for William to get to his feet. "Can you stall for a few minutes? I'll call the moment we're back. It'll give you time."

"Okay," said Kayla.

Eva hung up. "Let's move," she said. "Delmas and your parents are looking for Jeremy, William. Let's set this right before this is all for nothing."

William frowned at Eva. "Guys, who is this?" he asked.

"We'll explain on the way," said Ulrich. "Right now, you have a family reunion to get to."

* * *

><p>Kayla did everything she could to stall until the others got back. There wasn't much she could do. She went as far as thinking about pulling the fire alarm, but when she saw Jim with Mr. Delmas and the Dunbars, she knew that was not a good idea.<p>

"Hey, Jim!" she called.

They stopped and turned to her.

"Have you seen Eva?" Kayla asked. "I can't find her anywhere and she's not answering her mobile."

"Sorry, Kayla," said Jim.

"Oh," said Kayla. "If you see her, could you tell me to give me a call?"

"Sure thing, Kayla," said Jim.

Kayla walked passed them, stopping briefly beside the clone. "Thank you," she whispered. "And good-bye." She gave its hand a brief squeeze and hurried on.

Kayla got a text message from Eva a moment later, saying that they were in position. She breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully those few seconds were enough to get everything set up. She took the back stairs to the boys' floor and hid in a room nearby to see the action. Odd and Ulrich were watching. The William clone disappeared just when Jim turned around. He stared for a moment before turning to Mr. Delmas. The real William hurried out to take its place.

"It worked," whispered Kayla to herself.

"Yes, it did," came Eva's voice.

Kayla just about jumped out of her skin. Eva was standing behind her, watching the same scene. How long she was there was anyone's guess.

William, Jim, Mr. Delmas, and the Dunbars left, allowing the LYOKO warriors go about things as usual.

They all met up outside, keeping an eye on the real William to make sure he didn't say anything about LYOKO.

"It seems William knows that he was under XANA's control, though he has no real memory of it," said Jeremy. "But he can't go to LYOKO anymore."

"Now that we have William back, XANA's lost his greatest weapon," said Yumi.

"Maybe not," said Jeremy. "We still have to deal with the Kolossus. And the Skid's destroyed. It'll take me months to reprogram another."

"Which means we can't go to any more replicas," said Odd.

"What about your multi-agent program?" asked Ulrich. "It worked on the Kolossus."

"But only for a short time," said Jeremy. "I have to work on it. It is our only hope of defeating XANA now."

"I'll help," said Aelita.

"Thanks," said Jeremy.

Yumi looked over at William and he looked back. He gave her the peace sign. Yumi was a bit surprised.

* * *

><p>Kayla and Eva went off by themselves afterwards. They took the path to the obstacle course.<p>

"I know this is not just a leisure walk," said Eva.

Kayla stepped in front of Eva, furious. "You owe me an apology," Kayla said. "You manipulated me and used my feelings to your advantage. You know I liked the clone and you used me! You've done some things in the past that are questionable, Eva, but I never thought you would go so low as to toy with my feelings."

Eva looked at her. "If I gave you an apology right here, right now, would you accept it?" she asked.

Kayla thought for a moment, the red in her cheeks not fading a shade. "No."

"Then I won't apologize," said Eva. "Look at it this way. All is well with the world again. William is back on Earth. XANA has a setback. Besides, I wasn't the one who told you to play Clone William's girlfriend. That was your own idea."

Kayla made a noise in her throat.

Eva put her hand up. "You don't have to keep up the charade. Break up with him. He'll understand."

Eva turned and started back to the school. "I'll see you tomorrow." She paused briefly and looked over her shoulder. "I am sorry, so you know," she said and kept walking.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review. Now that William's back, things should go back to normal, right? Wrong! And Eva really got herself into a mess with Kayla, playing on her emotions with the clone. Can Kayla forgive Eva? You'll just have to keep reading.<strong>


	5. A Final Battle

**This chapter centers on **_**Fight to the Finish**_**. Originally I was going to create another fiction, but I decided just to throw this in here instead of creating a new story. I was also going to watch the episode, because I never saw it before, but I can't access it on the internet with the computer I use. So I'm doing this from an episode synopsis that I picked up online. I'm seriously doing the best I can with this. Please review.**

* * *

><p>Eva got ready for the day. She was going to help Jim with gym class today. She was making her bed when there was a knock at the door. She took her fluffed pillow and placed it over the hunting knife she kept near her bed.<p>

"Who is it?" she asked.

"William," came the reply.

Eva answered the door. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you would help me with the work I missed," said William. "Seeing that I was . . . well."

"I get it," said Eva. "Meet me whenever you have free time and after class. I'll get you caught up."

"Thanks," said William.

Eva began to close the door.

"Uh, Eva?"

Eva paused. "What?"

"I was wondering about Kayla," said William.

"What about her?"

"Is she seeing anyone?" he asked.

"Your clone," said Eva plainly.

William took a minute to register what she meant by that. "Oh. So she is single now."

Eva narrowed her eyes. "She didn't say anything to you, did she?"

"About?" asked William.

Eva clicked her tongue once. "She's still mad," she said. "She played the part of girlfriend to make the clone more convincing and she developed feelings for it. She's not happy that it's gone. She didn't know what to do, so I told her she could quit the charade by staging a breakup scene. If you want to date her, fine. Just keep in mind, you break her heart, I break you. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear," said William.

Eva nodded and closed the door.

* * *

><p>Kayla was still fuming about what she did and how she blamed Eva for it. She knew that it was her own fault for doing what she did, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment toward Eva for not stopping her and at some points encouraging her, even though she never said anything out loud.<p>

She went to class and found William there. He walked over to her and held out a small bunch of wild violets.

"Flowers for the lady," he said.

Kayla stared at him confused. For a half a second she thought the clone had come back. Kayla accepted the flowers.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"What, a guy can't do something nice for a pretty girl?" asked William, a bit wounded.

Kayla frowned. "I thought you like Yumi."

"Yeah, well, that's not working out," said William. "She likes Ulrich. Besides, Eva told me what you did. What do you say to trying to date the real deal?"

"You're asking me out?" asked Kayla.

"I thought I was being obvious," said William.

"O-okay," stammered Kayla. "Sure. We could give it a shot."

"Great," said William. "I don't know when we'll actually have a date. Eva's helping me get caught up on the work I missed."

"I can help," said Kayla. "Math and science are my strong points. Eva can help you with history and language arts."

"Okay," said William.

So Eva and Kayla tutored William that night. Eva had to stop early because she had another commitment. It was just William and Kayla after that.

"Here you carry the two," said Kayla, pointing with her pencil at the math problem they were currently working on. "Multiply by three and it gets you the second part of the answer." Kayla saw that they were extremely close together. Extremely close in Kayla's opinion. If Eva saw this, she would have William on the floor with his arm behind his back.

"What?" William asked innocently. His hand was at Kayla's back keeping him from having to lean the opposite direction and risk falling off his chair.

Kayla blushed. "Nothing," she quickly said. She inched away to give William space.

"It's something," said William. "Did I do something wrong?"

"It's just," started Kayla, "Eva wouldn't like it if she saw us like this."

William frowned. "Eva said it was fine if I dated you," he said. "She just said if I break your heart, she'll break me."

Kayla giggled. "That's Eva. Always protective. If she's willing to give you a shot, I guess I can, too. Maybe we can work this out."

They finished William's work. Kayla got up and looked around his room.

"You play guitar?" she asked, spying a guitar case tucked away in the mess that was William's room.

"Yeah," said William. "I'm not very good. Do you play?"

"Yes," replied Kayla. "Drums."

"Drums?" repeated William. "I would have thought you were more of a woodwinds girl."

"No, drums," said Kayla. "Eva plays bass."

"If you ever need someone to play guitar, let me know," said William.

"I think Odd already has that position," said Kayla.

William was discouraged. "Oh," he said.

Kayla put her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. We'll have to talk it over with Eva if we need someone to play bass. We can play with just a guitar and percussions."

William smiled. "Thanks, Kayla," he said.

"For what?" she asked.

"For accepting me into your group," replied William.

Kayla hung her head slightly. "William, I know you want to be friends with us. You have to know, I don't exactly have a great amount of pull with them. I mean, I'll be your friend, but I don't know how long it's going to be for them to welcome you with open arms. You did a lot of bad things while you were under XANA's control."

"But I was controlled," argued William.

"I know," sympathized Kayla. She looked at the clock. "I better get home. My parents will worry if I'm not home before they are. If you need help with anything else, ask Eva. Just be sure to knock. She gets upset if you barge right in, especially if she's sleeping."

Kayla left and walked home in the fading sunlight. She knew it was going to take a lot for the others to trust William again. Kayla was willing to give him a chance, but she didn't know William like the others did.

* * *

><p>Eva was in her room when she felt something out of place. She sat up in bed and listened. She heard footfalls and the doors to the stairwell swing. A brief moment she thought she was too hypersensitive for her own good. If she didn't find time to decompress, she would start making mistakes, and at this point in time, mistakes were not an option.<p>

Eva got up and walked into the hallway. She went to the stairwell doors and light footfalls hurrying to the next level. Eva followed them down. Somehow Eva knew it was Aelita going to Jeremy's room. She walked down and stood outside the door, listening. Aelita had had a nightmare about Franz Hopper, about him dying. She then asked Jeremy about the multi-agent program. Jeremy said it was soon going to be ready.

Eva let out a sigh of relief and felt panic at the same time. XANA would not go down without a fight. She darkly wondered what it would do when it learned what they were doing.

Aelita jumped when she came out of Jeremy's room and saw Eva.

"Come on," said Eva. "I'll stay in your room tonight."

* * *

><p>At lunch the next day, the LYOKO warriors shunned William. Kayla wanted to sit with him to keep him company, but a forbidding look from Eva kept her in her seat.<p>

"Honestly," Aelita said in exasperation. "It's not his fault for what he's done."

"He can't be trusted," argued Ulrich.

"He might fall under XANA's control again," said Yumi. "If we let him in on what we're doing, XANA could turn him against us and everything will go down the drain."

"I'm in no mood to be filleted by William again," said Odd.

"You can't judge him for what he's done because he was possessed," Kayla argued. "He's a strong warrior. We could use him to defeat XANA." Kayla whipped around to Eva. "Say something!"

Eva looked up from her meal. She glanced over at William. "No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?" asked Kayla. "He's good and you know it! We can trust him. He's kept our secret."

"I am not denying his abilities," said Eva, looking at Kayla out of the corner of her eye. "And I do not deny that he can be trusted to keep his mouth shut. But, from what I've observed since he's returned to Earth, he cannot go back to LYOKO."

"But," Aelita started.

"William is cocky," Eva cut in. "As I understand it, Aelita, it was because of this cockiness that he fell prey to XANA in the first place."

Aelita nodded sadly. Eva was right.

"If we allow him to go back to LYOKO, what are the chances that he will not be possessed again?" asked Eva. "We worked so hard to get him back. We do not have the Skid anymore, so we cannot go after him if XANA takes him away. And XANA knows we can get William back. It will find a way so that he would be lost forever to us. There cannot be a next time for William."

"Hear! Hear!" said Ulrich coldly.

Kayla bit her tongue, her blue eyes turning to William. William was watching them, trying to figure out what they were saying. He could tell that he was not in their good graces at the moment. And the look he was receiving from Kayla only confirmed it further.

Aelita's mobile rang. "Yes, Jeremy? What? Okay, we're on our way." She hung up and put her mobile back in her pocket. "Jeremy's received a message from Franz Hopper," she explained to them. "We need to get to the factory."

They all got up and left the lunchroom. But they weren't the only ones.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sissi's derogatory voice came.

They turned to find her with her hand on her hips and a scowl on her face. "Skipping school? Just like you. What's going on? What's so important that you have to take off in the middle of the day?"

"Sissi, this doesn't concern you," said Ulrich.

"No, but if you set one foot off campus, I'm telling my father," said Sissi.

"Do you really want to do that, Sissi?" asked Eva, stepping forward.

Sissi flinched, but stayed where she was. "You don't scare me, Eva. Lay one finger on me and I'll tell Jim."

Eva growled, but didn't move.

"Come on," said Aelita, turning back to the lunchroom.

William was just coming out when they started back to the lunchroom.

"I have an idea," said Kayla. She dashed forward and quickly said something to William. William nodded. Kayla ran back over to the others. "William's going to distract Sissi."

William walked over to Sissi and began chatting with her. The other slunk by and ran into the woods.

"Wait for me!"

They turned and saw William jogging up to them.

"Let me help you," said William.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this," said Yumi. "Let's go."

They climbed down the manhole, grabbed their skateboards and scooters and rode through the sewers.

Jeremy turned around in his chair when the elevator doors opened. "About time," he said. He saw William. "What is he doing here?"

"Sorry, Jeremy, but he helped us with Sissi," said Yumi.

"Okay," said Jeremy. He turned around and began typing. "Franz Hopper sent me a message. He wants to meet up on LYOKO."

"For what?" asked Aelita.

"I don't know," said Jeremy. "But I have a feeling it's going to be something big. Hopper doesn't come out of hiding for the casual hello. He's probably going to need escorts. Head down to the scanners."

"Ah," said Yumi to William. "You stay here."

"What? Why?" asked William.

"In case something goes wrong," said Jeremy. "I want you on standby."

The LYOKO warriors got back on the elevator and went to the scanner room. Aelita had a bad feeling about all of this.

"I'm sending you to the ice sector," said Jeremy.

Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi were virtualized first. Odd, Kayla, and Eva were right behind them.

Aelita looked at the tower they were to meet up at. "May I have a moment alone?" she asked.

The LYOKO warriors nodded without hesitation. This was Aelita's father. What right did they have to stop her from having a conversation with him? She hadn't had time with him in years.

The others waited outside the tower for Aelita.

* * *

><p>The super scan went off.<p>

"Oh, no," said Jeremy. "Guys, XANA's just activated a tower."

* * *

><p>"Now?" asked Ulrich.<p>

"Great," muttered Kayla, getting her mace ready.

* * *

><p>There was a shout of pain behind Jeremy. He whipped around in his chair to see William's eyes flash with XANA's mark. William had Jeremy out of his chair and on the floor in an instant.<p>

* * *

><p>Eva flinched. "Something's wrong," she said.<p>

There was a tremor, then another, and another. Rising out of the digital sea was a huge monster. Kayla and Eva's eyes went wide.

"Is that the Kolossus?" squeaked Kayla.

"Uh-huh," replied Odd.

A shot fired over Yumi's shoulder. She turned. "We've got company."

The others turned to see a group of monsters coming their way.

"XANA's pulling out all the stops," said Eva. "I was afraid of this."

"Jeremy, we need help!" Odd yelled. "Jeremy?"

The fight ensued. It didn't matter what they did, more monsters just kept coming. The Kolossus was so massive that it was hard to dance around laser fire and keep out of the way of its bladed arm.

"Keep it away from the tower!" shouted Ulrich.

Yumi made a split decision. "We can't do anything without Jeremy," she said. "I'm going to find out what's going on!"

"Yumi, no!" shouted Ulrich.

Yumi ran up to the Kolossus and allowed it to devirtualize her.

Yumi came out of the scanner and saw William was possessed and trying to destroy the scanners. She slammed her full weight into him and they struggled for a moment. Yumi got up and jumped into the elevator. The doors closed before William could get to them. In the supercomputer room, she found Jeremy on the floor.

"Wake up, Jeremy," she said, shaking him.

Jeremy woke up. "William!" he said his eyes going wide.

"I know," said Yumi. "I'll keep him distracted. Right now, the others need help."

Jeremy got back into his chair and Yumi ran for the elevator. Somehow she needed to keep William's attention focused on her.

* * *

><p>"Odd, Aelita!" shouted Eva. "Protect Hopper!"<p>

Eva, Ulrich and Kayla went their separate ways. Ulrich attacked the Kolossus while Eva and Kayla went after the monsters. Odd and Aelita stayed back and protected the tower.

Ulrich stabbed the Kolossus in the head and it stopped moving.

"Good job!" yelled Kayla. She was shot in the chest and was devirtualized.

Franz Hopper's data was transferred completely to Jeremy and he disappeared.

Jeremy looked over the data. "I have enough here to finish the multi-agent program," he reported. "Our only chance now is if you go to Sector 5 and finish completing the program."

"Odd and Aelita should go," Ulrich said, seeing that the Kolossus was beginning to move again. "I'll take care of this guy."

"I'll make sure they get to the edge of the sector," said Eva.

"The edge of the sector is not far from where you are," said Jeremy. "Head south."

Ulrich could see the edge of the sector from where he stood on the Kolossus. He watched the transport be called and saw the three of them get in. Ulrich turned his attention back to the Kolossus, stabbing it in the XANA mark on its bladed arm. Ulrich jumped down, but couldn't get out of the way of the massive falling monster. It landed on him and he was devirtualized.

* * *

><p>Kayla was just picking herself off the scanner floor when Ulrich came back. "You okay?" she asked.<p>

"Yeah," groaned Ulrich.

"Go help Yumi!" shouted Jeremy. "William's been chasing her since she got back."

Ulrich and Kayla sprang into action.

* * *

><p>Yumi was upstairs in the factory, desperately trying to keep William from getting his hands on her. A metal bar swung down on William's shoulder. He wavered and turned to his attacker. Kayla jumped back, but not fast enough. William backhanded her and she went flying.<p>

"Hasn't anyone taught you not to hit a lady?" asked Ulrich, kicking William in the face, hurting his foot more than William.

* * *

><p>Odd, Aelita, and Eva ran for the interface that was in the Celestial Dome.<p>

"We're here, Jeremy," said Aelita, accessing the interface.

Jeremy and Aelita worked quickly to finish the program while Odd and Eva were lookouts for monsters. They stood near Aelita on their overboards.

"Here they come," said Eva, hearing the mantas call.

Eva and Odd engaged the mantas and Aelita tried to run the program.

"It doesn't have enough power," Aelita cried.

"Oh, no," said Jeremy. "Let me see what I can do." After a few seconds, Jeremy shook his head. "Aelita, I don't know what else to do."

* * *

><p>Upstairs, Ulrich, Yumi, and Kayla were getting pulverized by William. He beat and electrocuted them. None of them knew how long they could hold on.<p>

* * *

><p>Odd took a shot and was devirtualized. Another manta tried to shoot Aelita, but was destroyed by Eva, possessing a manta. She jumped out of it and landed on the platform.<p>

"Is there anything you can do?" panted Eva.

Aelita didn't know what to say.

A manta screeched and took aim at Aelita. Eva jumped between them, taking the hit. She was devirtualized. Now Aelita was alone.

But not for long. Franz Hopper appeared and the mantas concentrated on him. Aelita stared in horror. Her dream was coming true.

"Huh?" Jeremy looked at his screen. The program was gaining more power. "Aelita, run the program! Franz is supplying power. It might work now!"

"I can't," said Aelita. "I might lose him."

The mantas continued their onslaught on Franz Hopper.

"Aelita, you have to," said Jeremy. "You must to avoid his sacrifice being for nothing. Run it."

Aelita stared for a moment longer. She turned to the interface screen. Her hand hovered over it for a moment. She let out a small cry of despair and activated the program. As she did that, Franz Hopper was struck one more time and he disappeared.

Jeremy watched as the monsters and replikas on his screen disappeared. "It's working!" he cried.

Ulrich, Yumi, and Kayla watch as XANA leaves William's body.

"XANA's dying!" Jeremy cried with joy and disbelief.

The last replika disappeared and the tower deactivated.

"We've done it," said Jeremy, leaning back in his chair. "XANA's been defeated."

A few minutes later, they were all gathered in the supercomputer room. Kayla, Ulrich, and Yumi had dragged William to the elevator. William had yet to regain consciousness. Kayla was currently checking Ulrich and Yumi over for injuries. Neither of them had anything serious. Jeremy was sitting with a sobbing Aelita, the rest of them watching with sad faces. None of them knew what to say.

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><p><strong>End of chapter! Hope you liked it. Please review!<br>**


	6. One Last Return to the Past

**I didn't see the **_**Echos**_** episode either, but like the other chapter, I got a synopsis for it. Enjoy. Also at the end of this chapter, be sure to read my last thoughts; they're a bit important.**

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><p>They all were quiet. They should have been celebrating, but this victory had come with a steep price. Franz Hopper was dead. All their hard work to save him and they had failed him in that aspect. More importantly, XANA was destroyed. The seven of them stared at their breakfasts, none of them feeling very hungry.<p>

"Why the long faces?" asked Sissi. She was standing at the end of the table with her tray in her hands.

"Go away, Sissi," said Ulrich.

She put her hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "You know you can talk to me about something, Ulrich," she said.

"He said go away," said Eva. "I would suggest you do what he says."

Sissi looked at the group and said nothing more. She turned and walked away.

"There's still one thing that must be done," said Jeremy.

They all knew what that was. They got up and started for the woods.

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><p>At the factory, they stood in front of the super calculator.<p>

"Who wants to do it?" asked Yumi.

They turned to Aelita. She shook her head. "I can't," she said.

"It has to be done," said Yumi.

"But, Daddy," started Aelita.

"He's gone," said Eva. There was no emotion in her voice.

"I don't want to either," said Ulrich.

"Ditto for me," said Odd.

Jeremy nodded.

"No," said Kayla.

That left Yumi and Eva.

"Why?" asked Yumi.

"I don't want to lose my friends," blurted Jeremy.

"What?" asked Odd. "You won't lose us."

"How can you be sure?" asked Jeremy. "This is the only thing keeping us together. What's to say we won't drift apart if we shut it down?"

"I don't want to give up on him," said Aelita. "Shutting it down will mean I did."

"I like being a hero," said Odd.

Ulrich nodded in agreement.

"XANA's gone," said Yumi. "There's nothing to fight. How can we be heros if there is no villain?"

"I have a purpose here," said Kayla. "Other than treating Eva's wounds, I found a place with you guys."

"What?" asked Yumi. She turned to Eva. "Can you talk some sense into them?"

Eva stepped up. "Listen. Our bond of friendship was not only forged in a virtual world. We each have found our strengths and weakness that we learned on LYOKO, yes, but we came together here, in the real world. The war is over. That does not mean our friendship is over. Yes, we have lost family. Sacrifices were made. But that is war. That is life. And just because the fighting is over, it doesn't mean we cannot be heros in another way."

She sighed. "I know we do not agree on shutting down the supercomputer," Eva went on. "But I believe a unanimous agreement must be met in this case." She turned to the computer system in the middle of the room. "This is not going anywhere. Think about it."

Eva turned and walked into the elevator. The others followed her.

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><p>Kayla and Eva did not have lunch with the others. Eva was not hungry and Kayla wanted to keep an eye on her friend. They sat on a bench where they wouldn't be bothered.<p>

"You should talk to Aelita," said Kayla. "You've lost a family member before. You can relate."

"Maybe it should be you," said Eva. "It was you who helped me."

Kayla shook her head. "She needs someone to understand. I'm a poor substitute. Besides, I don't think I helped you."

Eva gave Kayla a questioning look.

Kayla returned the look with a light frown. "Don't give me that look. You know exactly what I mean. You're still hurting. And I don't think any amount of consoling from me is going to change that. Eva, she's going to feel the exact same way you do. When you lost Mackenzie, you thought there was something you could do to prevent it. Aelita's going to feel the same way about her father. Talk to her. Please?"

Eva nodded. "I will."

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><p>By this time lunch was over and Eva and Kayla walked back to their friends. It was then Sissi came over to them. She had a weird look on her face.<p>

"I know what you did," said Sissi. "I'm telling my father."

"What are you talking about?" asked Odd.

"About LYOKO," replied Sissi.

Seven pairs of eyes widened. How did she know?

Sissi stepped forward and took a GPS device from under Ulrich's collar. "I tracked you with this. I know all your secrets. I found the log on the computer."

"Sissi, keep you mouth shut about this," Yumi growled.

"Make me," said Sissi. She ran off in the direction of her father's office.

Eva started after her.

"No," said Kayla, grabbing her arm to stop her. "There's nothing we can do."

"We just have to hope Mr. Delmas won't believe her," said Jeremy. He shook his head. "I should have been more careful."

"Who in their right mind would believe her?" asked Odd. "Everything we've done sounds like it's out of a science fiction movie."

"Besides, you're not the first to have this happen to," said Ulrich. "Remember when she stole my journal?"

"Anyone could have made this mistake," said Aelita.

Jeremy nodded. "You're right."

Eva let out a sigh of discontent. "I should have caught that," she said. "I should have known she did something."

"Don't blame yourself," said Aelita. "You couldn't have known."

"If I was paying more attention, I would have," grumbled Eva.

"There has to be something we can do," said Ulrich.

"Keep an eye on her?" suggested Kayla. "I'll head into the main building and see what happens. If I don't call, consider something up."

Kayla walked away.

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><p>It wasn't long before Kayla saw Mr. Delmas escorting Sissi to the infirmary. She was going on and on about the LYOKO log. Kayla called Jeremy.<p>

"Delmas thinks she's lost it," said Kayla. "I just saw her being led into the infirmary. I think he's going to call the institution in the next few minutes."

"Way ahead of you," said Jeremy. "I'm already at the factory. I'm initiating a return to the past."

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><p>They were at breakfast, eating. Sissi came by to plant the GPS. Ulrich reached up and stopped her.<p>

"You know," he said, turning the GPS device in his hand, "if you wouldn't mess with us the way you do, we might become friends."

The LYOKO warriors with Sissi went to the factory. She asked a lot of questions, but they told her to hold her questions for later, that there was something important they had to do first.

In the super calculator room, they stared at the physical form of LYOKO.

Aelita stepped up and took one last look at the active computer. She shut it down.

"That's that," she said.

"You better tell me what's going on, Ulrich," said Sissi.

"Don't worry, Sissi, we'll tell what happened," said Ulrich. He turned to Yumi. "It's finally over."

They all smiled.

Eva reached up and rubbed the back of her head. She could feel another bad headache coming on.

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><p><strong>Another bad headache? Are things truly over for the LYOKO warriors? I can tell right now, this is my last straight <em>Code: LYOKO<em> with Eva and Kayla. There will be a crossover series. It's going to be in five parts. The first three parts will be a _Code: LYOKO _and _Gargoyles_ cross. To the fans of _Code: LYOKO_ who also appreciate _Gargoyles_, be aware, you'll be reading about a certain redhead that's much older now. :) The first part of the five part epilogue series is already in the posting process. The first chapter is up for the story Shadows Reborn. Review! XD**


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